Associate General Counsel - Litigation - Smithfield Foods, VA

 Job Locations: US-VA-Smithfield Your Opportunity:

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories. Popular brands include Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Nathan’s Famous®, Farmland®, Armour®, Farmer John®, Kretschmar®, John Morrell®, Cook’s®, Gwaltney®, Carando®, Margherita®, Curly’s®, Healthy Ones®, Morliny®, Krakus®, and Berlinki®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

The Associate General Counsel provides legal advice to the Company and generally assists the Law Department and individual business units with a wide range of dispute resolution and litigation matters. This role works closely with other members of the Law Department and individual business units to achieve business objectives within acceptable risk profiles. Performs duties consistent with legal and ethical requirements as well as Company values, standards, culture and business practices. May manage attorneys in several legal specializations including tax, litigation, acquisitions, IP, etc.

Core Responsibilities:

• Manage the defense of a wide variety of commercial litigation matters.
• Engage in all aspects of the litigation process, including assessing risk, developing strategy, partnering with outside counsel, reviewing pleadings, and ensuring compliance with e-discovery requirements.
• Oversee and/or assist with responses to discovery requests and preparation and dissemination of litigation holds for litigation matters.
• Manage and coordinate the Company’s responses to a wide variety of subpoenas and third-party requests for information.
• Advise the Company’s risk management department in connection with general liability litigation matters.
• Assist in preparing witnesses for deposition and trial testimony.
• Prepare for and attend depositions and mediations.
• Assess and advise the organization on various dispute-resolution and litigation-avoidance matters.
• Stay abreast of legal implications of industry trends and help business team develop “big picture” strategies.
• Provide day-to-day direction and legal advice to the business on dispute resolution issues impacting the Company’s supply chain, marketing, real estate, facilities, operations, and information technology departments.
• Collaborate with other in-house counsel on various litigation, dispute-resolution, and litigation-avoidance matters.
• Draft and review settlement agreements and confidentiality and protective orders.
• Assist with document retention initiatives for the Company.
• Manage outside litigation counsel budget, work, and costs.
• Assist Chief Legal Officer in responding to and/or lead in responding to governmental investigations.
• Assist Chief Legal Officer in various administrative matters, such as planning, budgeting, and strategy for the legal department.
• Review and provide advice and counsel to legal department colleagues on contractual terms relating to indemnification, arbitration, and limitation of liability provisions.
• Use litigation as a tool to achieve business and policy goals.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. May perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited four-year college or university and 15+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience, required.
• Must have a JD degree from an accredited law school and be admitted to practice in at least one state.
• Minimum 10+ years of substantive business litigation experience with a corporate legal department or a well regarded law firm.
• Skilled lawyer with the ability to manage heavy workload in a highly dynamic environment.
• Ability to effectively and efficiently manage multiple matters and changing priorities and to complete projects in a timely and accurate manner. Detail-oriented.
• Excellent communication (oral and written), organization, analytical and interpersonal skills. Ability to clearly communicate complex concepts to internal clients and externally.
• Sound judgment; ability to think critically, make and articulate well-reasoned recommendations.
• Ability to counsel internal clients on the risks associated with various options and to present creative solutions to difficult problems to achieve the desired business outcome while appropriately managing risk.
• Performance-driven with good business sense, a strong work ethic and a sense of urgency, honesty and fairness. Strong sense of ownership over matters.
• Collaborative nature and collegial attitude; calm under pressure.
• Self-confident and inspires confidence from clients. Committed to be an engaged partner to internal clients.
• Willing to travel on an occasional basis.
• Ability to work well with others in fast paced, dynamic environment.
• Ability to be respectful, approachable and team oriented while building strong working relationships and a positive work environment.

EEO/AA Information:

Smithfield, is an equal opportunity employer committed to workplace diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, gender identity, protected veterans status or status as a disabled individual or any other protected group status or non-job related characteristic as directed by law.

Careers and Benefits:

To learn more about Smithfield’s benefits, visit smithfieldfoods.com/careerbenefits.

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